Historical Note: Lillian Teeter was one of six children born to Horace Hollister Teeter and Nancy Belle Sorrels. She was raised in Carbondale and attended Southern Illinois Normal University. In 1909 she graduated with the first bachelor of education degree awarded by the University. She later earned a bachelor of philosophy degree at the University of Chicago and a master's degree at Washington University in St. Louis. She taught for 47 years, 38 in east St. Louis, and the rest in Pomona, Marion, Harrisburg, and Collinsville, Illinois.